The Portland daily press., 1887-06-02
SENATOR SHERMAN
Addresses the Illinois Legislature on
Political Issues.
The Vital Difference Between the
Two Great Political Parties.
Common Sense Remarks Concern
Ing the Protective System.

Common Sense Remarks Concern
Ing the Protective System.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.,, June 1.-Senat0r Sher
man, on invitation of the Legislature Of Hi
nois this afternoon, addressed the members
OF that body and a distinguished assemblag'
OF prominent Republican politicians from
all sections, on the political questions of th,
day. He was received with great cordiality
His text was the principles and tendencies
Of the two political parties This led him t
review at some length, the position of tht
two parties before and during the civil war
and when he alluded to Mr.. Lincoln and the
patriotic acts of the loyal Democratic lead
ers-Douglass and Logan-there was grea
enthusiasm. BE said:
A vital difference between the two great
parties Is shown in their choice of officers
and agents to conduct the government The
Republican party cherished with patriotic
pride all the great achievements Of Union
soldiers, and all the grand results of the war
Every measure for the benefit of Union sol.
diers received prompt attention, and gen.
erous system OF pensions was the work OF
tnat party, Union soldiers. in every rank
and condition of life, have been preferred by
the Republican party for local. State and ma
| tlonal offices. Can this be said of the Dem
ocratic party? The controlling elements of
that party look with prejudice upon Union
soidlers, and DO net, with rare exceptions,
confer upon them place and power. Ten reb-
eI soldiers are appointed to Office to one
Union soldier. This administration has en-
phasized this feeling in the most striking
manner by appointing to the chief offices Of
tne government, especially. in the foreign
service. the most distinguished leaders of
the rebel service. More than majority of
all the leading officers who now represent us
IN the diplomatic and consular service
abroad, are Confederate soldiers or civilians.
hold In my hand a list of ninety-one per
sons now ministers, consuls, secretaries of
legation and the like, in most of the chief
countries OF the world, every one of whom
gained his distinction, of greater or lesser
degree, by service in the Confederate army
or tne Confederate cause. Many of those
appointed in the North were in sympathy
with the rebellion. This is so marked that
every nation to which these gentlemen are
accredited may fairly conclude that it was
I4e reDei cause that trlumphed, and not the
Union cause: Nearly all these are of the ex
IRENE school of Southern politics. One of
them refused to ask to have his disabilities
removed. Another, on public holiday
when the flag OF our country was floating
over the city of Washington, turned to it
and said 'How | hate that flag" and vet.
when checked, added, But would fight for
IL now" The body of these men are more
htted to represent the Confederate States
tnah the Union people. have no wish to
discriminate against those who, in good
ialth, aequiescea in the results Of the war
put ! DO think it is shame that within
twenty-five years after the war is over, the
Democratic party in power should empha-
sil slze u 20 an the world their sympathy with
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND.
Inc President has not been free from fault
m TINS respect. The bias of his mind is
shown in recent letter to the COMMITTEES
who invited him to attend the unyeiing of
the monument erected TO the memory of
J0nn Y. calhoun. lie says he believes sit
would be well If all he calhoun thought
ana ali ne believed and taught and all his
aspirations were better known and under
stood" What would Andrew Jackson have
Salu 10 such sentiment as this ii uttered in
his presence in the name of the Democratic
party?
Nor can it be said of the President that he
mas shown gratitude to the Union army or
satisfaction for the success of the Union
cause, or sympathy for the men who exposed
their lives for the preservation of their coun-
Try. Ills lnnumerable yet0es of private pen
sion Dllis, his indifference to the sufferings
OF invalid and INDECENT Union soldiers seat
tered through the country, do not indicate
tilat feeling Of gratitude which believe is
universal among all the loyal people of the
United States. The Democratic party,
SOubdlnliS III lbo IdukS MANY tlOnOr-
able and patriotic men, is not the represen-
tatlve OF the loyal element of the country.
but Is confessedly composed of the body OF
adherents to the rebel cause reinforced bv
the element we thought disloyal in the
North and those who follow blindly. without
questioning the name, memories and aspira-
tlons OF the Democratic party, and the scat
tered victims of disappointment, inevitable
in political life.
do not wish to utter one word to revive
nf In
fought out manfully and brayely by the two
contendlng parties with such courage as to
inspire the respect of each side for the other
ana to Its logical conclusion of the complete
success OF the Union cause. All that | ask
Is that the defeated party will honorably full
MI the terms OF their surrender, and that the
results OF the war may be respected and OBJ
served with honor by COnfederates, and firm
ly, but with charity and kindness, by Union
soldiers AMI citizens. For this appeal alike
to Confederate and Union soldiers, to the
blue and the gray, so that when passion and
preJudlce disappear, both sides will stand bv
each other in the improvement ard develop
ment Of our great and united country.
VITAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PAR
TIES.
And this, fellow citizens, brings me to the
controlling difference between the two great
parties now as during the war. From the
beginning of the government, one theory
tended to belittle, degrade and lessen the ari-
thorty of the natl nal union. lit favored n
strict construction of the constitution: If
construed it like an indictment or a penal
bond, every doubt was to be resolved against
II. 10 them 1t was a contract which any
State might throw off at its pleasure They
called this the right of secession. They
called THIS government a confederacy The
Democratic party in later years fell under the
absolute dominion of this theory. When
they undertook in 1861 to put their theories
into practice, they expressly called their
government Confederate government. and
by their constitution, they made slavery and
the right OF secession their corner stones,
with jefferson Davis as their chief,
Ihe opposite theory was that the govern
ment formed by our fathers was a national
government, and the constitution was an in
dissoluble bond of union, defining the pow
ers OF the government, to be construed lib
orally, SO as to carry into effect the purposes
OF Its trainers; that this was an ordinance.
not OF the States, but of the people, to pro-
mote more perfect union; to preserve the
blessings of liberty for themselves and their
posterlty. They were Unionists; they be-
| of the Republic. The Republican party is
| the representative of this theory. 1t mar
| shalled the Union forces for the preservation
OF the Union and against secession II pre-
served the Union. But for it the American
| Republic would have been a thing of the
| past For twenty-four years il administered
| the executive branch of the government on
4 these ideas. 1t was this that enabled the
Republican party to confer upon the United
States the inestimable benefits of a national
| currency, the homestead policy, the protec-
| tion and diversity of our industries, the vast
| extension of our railroads and internal i'm
| provements. 1t is this marked difference be.
tween the two prrtes that lies at the foun-
datlon Of all questions of public policy.
THE PROTECTIVE SYSTEM.
The future opens before us an infinite va
riety of questions which will turn on the ex-
tent of national authority. The revenues
must be reduced. This the Republican par
ty did many times since the war, and care
fully selected for repeal or reduction, taxes
on home production and duties on articles
that did not compete with home industry.
We added to the free lists, made free from
all duty more than one-third in value of all
| the articles or merchandise imported from
foreign countries, including all articles in
common use among our people which could
not be produced here, including tea and cof-
| fee. We levied duty on the remaining two
thirds sufficient to raise all the revenue
needed, almost exclusively on articles that
competed with home products In this way
we SO protected our industry that NEARLY ev-
| cry article of common use on the farm, in
the workshop or the household is made in
AN1